Arts Flanders

The Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren is mounting a blockbuster exhibition entitled ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’. The ancient city of Sagalassos in the south of Turkey is one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the Mediterranean and the Belgian archaeologist Marc Waelkens of the K.U.Leuven has been carrying out excavation work there for more than 20 years. The Gallo-Roman Museum is the first and only European museum to present a retrospective exhibition of this kind. Never before have the precious finds been allowed to leave Turkish soil.

Sagalassos lies in the southern province of Burdur in Turkey, high up in the mountains some 100 km to the north of the seaside resort of Antalya. Under the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) Sagalassos flourished and magnificent monuments, temples, fountains, Roman bath houses, etc. were built. The ambitious elite dreamt of making the city great and they were able to realize these dreams. Sagalassos became a City of Dreams. In the 4th century Sagalassos was Christianized and the Church became a major power. But an epidemic of plague and two powerful earthquakes at the beginning of the 6th and 7th centuries AD heralded its decline. In the 13th century Sagalassos became a ghost town. Fortunately, its remote location high up on a mountainside deterred plunderers. Layers of erosion material several metres thick hid the buildings from view and protected them.

In the early 1990s major excavation work started under the leadership of Professor Marc Waelkens of the K.U.Leuven. An interdisciplinary team of scientists descended upon the site and they have spent the last 20 years systematically uncovering the ancient city in what is one of the largest excavations in the Mediterranean world. The many items brought to the surface by Professor Waelkens’ team testify to the city’s complex and fascinating history. These items include monumental architectural fragments, life-size statues of Roman gods and emperors and other intriguing objects ranging from prehistoric tools and red-painted pottery dishes, through fragments of bronze sculptures and oil lamps bearing Christian motifs, to slabs from friezes depicting dancing nymphs and lavishly decorated capitals. Many of these wonders have now been allowed to leave Turkish soil for the first time for a retrospective exhibition at the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren.

Exhibition
The internationally-celebrated Belgian opera director and set designer Guy Joosten has come up with a bold design for the exhibition, which is presented as a dramatic event. Joosten wants visitors to look at things differently. He lights certain exhibits from different sides, including the monumental marble portrait of the Roman emperor Hadrian and images of ancient gods and goddesses. To evoke the atmosphere of the archaeological site, film shots are shown on a 270-degree panoramic screen that floats in the middle of the room above a scale model of Sagalassos in its heyday. The highly original set, the use of media, the pervading atmosphere and the collection of masterpieces combine to make ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’ a ‘must see’ for the whole family.

Practical information

Sagalossos, City of dreams | 29/10/2011 - 17/6/2012

Gallo-Roman Museum, Kielenstraat 15, 3700 Tongeren, Belgium
Tel + 32 12 67 03 30, grm@limburg.be
www.galloromeinsmuseum.be